Hi fellow Cohenites,

Just wanted to say Hi and introduce myself. My name is Crystal, I'm based in Sydney and I'm in my last year of uni (studying to be a physiotherapist) I've been so inspired by reading everyone else's meanderings with Cohen's that I thought it was time to begin my own diary, and yes as the title says, this will be round 2 for me on Cohen's :rolleyes:

I began my first Cohen's journey last year in August, starting weight 97.1kg, and lost 17kg over 2 months before I fell off the wagon (uni, work, etc etc) I felt fantastic at 80kg, with only 15kg til goal (goal is 65-68kg), however unfortunately I have binged and exercised my way up to 95kg (tried the diet + exercise thing, doesn't work for me! Spent 2+ hrs in the gym everyday and still gained! :mad: )

Anyway, I will be starting unofficially on my old program tomorrow until I receive my new program. I will be getting my blood test done on saturday so hopefully will be good to go by tuesday/wednesday :jump: I will set up my ticker tomorrow, and maybe post starting pics (if I'm feeling game lol)

Have a great Cohen's day everyone! :)

Yay! Today is day 1, starting weight 95.7kg (ugh!)

So far I've eaten my yoghurt at 8am, and an orange at 10 am...don't feel too hungry so I'll try to space everything out. Got to remember to drink heaps of water!

I'll report back later but so far so good! :D

Hi Crystal,

Welcome back, as you already know it really does work so good luck second time around and I will look forward to following your progress.

Annie Lusion

Hi Annie :D

Thank you for your reply and your support, this is my first time writing on a forum so I was very excited to see your input :) Yes Cohen's is a great program, it is the only thing that works for me, and good to see that it's been working so well for you too, you're nearly halfway there, congrats!!!

I spoke to my consultant on friday and she advised my to wait til I receive my new program on monday before I start, so I've just been rereading the program rules and eating the same foods but in larger portions until monday rolls around, I can't wait to get my new program! Actually if anyone could advise, there are 4 small squares in 1 salada, is it 2 squares=1 crispbread?

Enjoy your weekend!

Hiya Crystal,

Yes, 2 salada squares = 1 crispbread.

I love reading all the diaries, everybody's journeys are so inspiring and motivating, so thanks for adding another on my list to read.

Day 1 starts tomorrow for you so good luck and let us know how the week was, I found week 1 the hardest for me but after that easy as.

Annie Lusion

Well as the title says, yesterday was my first official day on Cohen's, and I'm thrilled because I made it through the day quite easily! (Gotta luv crackers lol, they helped sooo much!)

And I dropped 1.4kg of water yay! So I'm on my way, pleased as punch, and ready for day 2! Will post more later when I have more time...

Way to go Krystal, survived day 1, always the hardest day ! hope the rest of the days get easier and easier :)

Annie Lusion

Well today is day 5, and it truly hasnt been much of a struggle which surprises me! And yes I'm down 4.2kg so I'm very happy, I can feel the difference already, once the bloated feeling is gone your clothes just fit so much better!

I think I'm getting a cold though :( which isnt good because I dont know what I can/can't take for it (and my consultant isnt back til tuesday!)

Hey Annie Lusion, thank you for your input into my diary :) Do you have one that I can visit? I read somewhere you're off on holiday to Auckland, I'm jealous, you'll love it! NZ is such a beautiful place, I went skiing in Queenstown last year and it was fantastic and beautiful, reminded me of Norway! So how long will you be going?

Check out my recipe for Cohen's style spaghetti bolognaise, its sooo lush, I'm hooked on it, and definantly think its a meal I'll continue with after refeed! I find it very filling, helps my pasta cravings, and the zucchini spaghetti even twirls around your fork!

Have a great Cohen's day!

Crystal- I loved the sound of your spag bol. You have a great attitude & I'm sure you will get to goal this time. Good for you getting back on the program! I'll pop in again soon, cheers fellow Cohenite, Cate.

Hi Crystal
The only lozenges that I have been recommended are the Bioglan Sugarfree lozenges. They are Alcohol and sugar free and were recommende by my clinic. Get better soon.
Dizzy

Hi Crystal,

4.2 in 5 days is excellent...yay!!Once your in the cohen zone it really is the easiest and best eating plan ever...
I don't have a diary, much more of a reader than a writer, I love reading everyone's diaries, so many inspirational wonderful people on this forum.
Yes, off to AKL on the 24th Aug for four days. AKL has a very special place in my heart, I met my husband there 6 years ago. He is a Brit but was working in Montreal, Canada at the time and was in AKL for business, I was there on leisure. We both loved it (more so cos we met there) so we thought let's go back, get away from MEL for a few days, visit all the places we went to and take a trip down memory lane. Really looking forward to getting away, we both have been real busy with work so a well deserved break....and it's my BIRTHDAY..yay! I love Birthdays.

I loved your spag bol recipe, I am going to try it tomm night for dinner.
Have a great day and hope you are feeling better.

Dizzy: Look at your ticker...WOW, awesome result. Well done!

TTFN
Annie Lusion

Crystal,
Congratulations of rejoining Cohens. I completed the program last year but my refeed did not go well and I have put back on some of the weight I had lost.

I would like to rejoin myself - could I ask you a question? Does your new plan differ much from the old plan? Do you see the benefit in purchasing the new one?

I don't have a problem with buying a new one as I found Cohens pretty reasonable, but dont want to waste my money on something I could easily adapt myself.

Your weight loss if fantastic in such a short time - Well done!

~Eire~

Welcome to my diary everyone, I hope your all having a great weekend!

I woke up this morning Day 6, and I'm down another 0.5kg (4.7kg total :D ) yay! Can't wait to take my measurements again on Monday! I like that I can relax these days (with my cold ugh) and am not stuck in the gym for hours and sweating buckets! However I'm think of trying pilates, because it's very low impact, and great for toning! Will try my first session on monday, and keep you posted on whether it stimulates my hunger...

Hi Cate, Thank you for your encouraging words, I can tell at times that they'll be needed! :) You must be looking fantastic with only 3kgs to go! I have stuck to the plan 110% so far, do you have any tips/tricks for cravings?

Hi Dizzy, Wow 1.6kg to go! You must be thrilled, I can't wait to be there too! So how does it feel being a skinny minny? :) May I ask how long you have been on Cohen's? Thank you for letting me know about the lozenges, I've just bought some and they're helping alot!

Hi Annie Lusion, just saw ur ticker, yay you're halfway done! :) And yay for your holiday in Auckland for ur birthday, that'll be the perfect way to spend it with your man (and there's nothing like a relaxing holiday and sentimental memories to have you feeling fabulous!) Let me know how you go with the recipe...I've also found simmering the mince with the tomatoes, garlic, mayo, herbs etc is very tasty too!

Hi Eire, Welcome back to Cohen's, I'm super happy to have rejoined, and so will you! In terms of programs, my new one is completely different in terms of portions etc, and I also have more choices (6 choices for meal 2 instead of 4!) I have no doubt your old program would probly still work, but it wouldn't be accurate for you because your bloodwork has changed since you last had your program created. Cohen's is very powerful in the way it alters your hormones (for eg, On the 4th day of both times I've restarted Cohen's Im always struck by Aunt Flo, which is impossible b/c I'm on the pill and the timing is out... So yes Cohen's is a POWERFUL program!) So yeh it's worth the money to repurchase and you will be back on your way to a SLIM AND SEXY YOU! :)

Whoops this has ended up a very long post...just one last thing...on my first time round after about 2 months I noticed that ALL of my cellulite was gone (and yes i did start with quite a bit!), it has since returned (and hopefully leaving soon!), has anyone else experienced this awesome side effect???

Thanks everyone for all of your input, your posts keep me motivated and make my day :D

Signing out,
Crystal

Crystal, My cellulite has disappeared & I had lots of years' worth! My cravings just went on their own, but it did take a couple of weeks. I still had mental cravings occasionally but I just always keep the motto in my head that "nothing tastes as good as slim will feel" & I can only say that if you stick to the program, without any deviations, the cravings vanish. (along with the cellulite, the fat, the thunder thighs etc!) God, I love Cohen's! The comments & encouragement from my forum buddies has made my journey so much easier & if I can help you at all I will. Go Crystal!! Cheers, Cate.

Crystal,
Thanks for the info about the new plan. I think I will treat myself to a new one also.

Look forward to chatting to you!
Happy Losing!

~Eire~

Hey everybody, just wanted to report, it's my 7th day and I'm half a kilo away from my first goal (under 90kg)! :jump: Also my hunger feels more under control today (Gotta watch those apples!)

Hi Cate,yes that is a great motto to remember, so I've written it on paper and stuck it on my fridge :D I luv motivating quotes, here are a few more:

"Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can."

"The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!"

"The rest of the world lives to eat, while I eat to live."

Hi Eire, I'm glad to hear that :) Be sure to let me know when you get started (Even though it's only day 7, I have found keeping a diary is very motivating, and makes me liable for my weightloss!) Look forward to chatting with u!

Signing out,
Crystal :D

Yay I have completed my first goal of under 90kgs!!! :jump: So I'm doing a bit of a victory dance at the moment lol! 24.9kgs to go!!!

Today I have my first lesson with a pilates personal trainer to take me through all of the pilates equipment, I don't know if anyone has seen the equipment but it all looks like its from a torture chamber lol! I'm planning on 1 or 2 days of pilates equipment (if I like it), and 3 or 4 sessions of winsor pilates (matwork), just need to see how it affects my hunger first! I've heard soooo many great things about winsor pilates that I'm so excited to start!

Feeling a little better today, yesterday was a bit of a struggle with cohen's, my cravings were starting to get a little much so I went to bed early. I live with my male best friend who is currently bulking (male gym speak for putting on muscle) and can eat soooooo much it's not funny, and can basically eat whatever he wants. So he is always eating chocolate, icecream, hamburgers, pizza, all my faves in front of me and it makes it so hard! I can't wait til the day he has to start his cutting diet (to strip the fat once he's built muscle) but unfortunately that's not for at least another 3 months! I've found drinking peppermint tea helps a little, and sprite zero, but I try not to drink diet softdrink because I find it stalls my weightloss!

Ok off to pilates now, have a great day everyone! :)

Hiya Crystal..under 90...woooo hoooooo

Thats great news, feels great huh?

Annie Lusion

Wellll I knew it was only a matter of time til my weightloss slowed down, oh well at least I know it's not water anymore! Maybe I'm getting too excited with all the spices? I found last time that the more basic I kept it the better results I got...but I also don't enjoy the food as much...at least I'm not hungry otherwise then it would be a problem, look out anything sweet in sight lol!

Heya Annie Lusion, yes it does feel great! I'm so impatient though, my next goal is 85kg, gotta stop being impatient cuz I know I'll get there eventually! How long have you been on the program? Any tips for cravings?

Hi Crystal,

I have just rejoined this forum I was a member when I first started on Cohen's. The weight will slow down a small amount but you should still be lossing. Are you drinking all your water?
I found that if i didn't drink all my water they weight drop slowed down. The water is the key to cohen's and other things of cousre but that was my key anyway.

I too am a top ten finalist in the slimming and health mag so Vote for me too please.

talk to you soon,

Moni

Hi Moni,thank you for your input! Congrats on achieving your goal, I've seen your before and after pics and u look fantastic :D ! Please feel free to share any tips and tricks!

As for drinking water, I drink so much I could float away LOL!

Iv actually just reread my last post and realised how rediculous I must have sounded, I've lost 6.3kg in 11 days and I'm complaining that it's slowed down! :rolleyes: Suppose I'd better hop off those scales for a few days...

Went to my second pilates equipment session today and it was awesome! My core feels stronger and I feel more flexible already! I've always wanted to have a flat tummy, and I'm sure pilates is the way to go!

Skinny hugs everyone!

Hi Cystal
Sorry about the delay in replying to your queries. I have two little kids so am not able to get on the computer as much as I would like so I tend to read only and not write!!

I started Cohens Sept 4th 2006 and am actually now on refeed - day 14 of 16. I had to stop early as I felt that I didn't have another few kilos to go and I was freezing cold all the time. I was also struggling to lift my kids, so decided to start at 63kg instead of 59.

I can vouch for the fact that deviations will cost you. I have deviated a few times with disastrous results. I could have finished this months ago but kept binging. It was as though a second Dizzy was just waiting in the sidelines. I thought I could have just one XXXXX but the second Dizzy just takes over and before I know it one XXXXX has become 10 or 12!! So, readers beware.

Must go - I'm at work and must toddle off.

Dizzy

Hi all,

well I don't know what's the go with the scales, but I'm not complaining! My weight loss has slowed very considerably this 2nd week, sometimes 300g, 200g, 100g overnight even though I have stuck to plan 110%! Actually I had my first bad day yesterday, I only drank 1.5L (usually 3.5L), got 4 hrs sleep (instead of 8) due to going out and dancing for a few hrs, and a 700g loss overnight! Yeehaa! I'm probly just dehydrated though so I'll see tomorrow, but as for now I'm stoked with that! Just over 23kgs to go...

Hi Dizzy, :) WOW congrats, day 14 of refeed for you, I'll bet you must be feeling awesome! And maybe anxious about what to eat in life after Cohen's?? I enjoy the structure that Cohen's provides, and can see myself maybe sticking to similar meals but in larger quantities for maintenance (and of course with more variety!) I'm so excited for you (and totally jealous right now, sometimes my craving are shocking lol!) As for deviations, yes they make me nervous, cuz I know that if I mess up even once it will be sooo much harder to stick to this WOE, so no deviations!

Yay it's the weekend, and the sun is shining! Hope all you gorgeous Cohenites have a great weekend, and remember, no deviating lol!

Skinny hugs,
Crystal

7.5kgs gone, yeehaa! Official 2 week weigh in tomorrow!!! :jump:

Well after a few bumpy days, I've had another loss, and am now only 3kgs from my next goal of 85kgs! Had a shocking day yesterday, only just managed to make it without a deviation (due to boredom etc) so this loss has been awesome and much needed for my motivation! I'm noticing alot of the weight has come off my waist and hips, so now I easily just slip into my clothes...I'm currently a size 14-16, can't wait til it's a 10!!!!!

Will write more later today!

Today is the first day of my 3rd week and I'm down 9kgs!!! :jump:

And my cravings seem to be disappearing, I will not let myself cave in to them! I think drinking Sprite Zero tends to bring on the cravings so I'm trying to avoid it..

And at the moment I'm totally loving mince! Yummmmmmmm, I'm such a carnivore lol, I could never be a vegetarian! Actually my blood type is O and if any of you have read the blood type diet, O's are hunter-gatherers, hence I'm meant to love meat, and I do!

Lol neways moving right along! I'm feeling so good, so much lighter, especially around the waist!

Woops should have checked the time, gotta zoom off to uni!

Skinny hugs!

Well this week has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride!!! Bought a pair of size 14 jeans, and they fit, yay!!! And I made it to 86.1, only 1.2kg from my second goal! Now those were the highlights!

On wednesday I had to have dinner at Tatsuya's (for anyone that doesn't know, it is ranked no. 5 in the world! And I had no way of getting out of it cuz there's a 3 month waiting list and a huge cancellation fee!! Arghhh so it was a forced deviation!!!) I was expecting to only have to pick a dish, and would only have picked at it, and then I find out it's a set menu of 9 mains, and 4 desserts, arrrggghhhhhh! :eek: and at $250 per person...Mind you, each course is only tiny!

Anyways so it may have been the icecream that set me of on a binge, and I came home and ate a spoonful of peanut butter, a block of choccie, and an icecream :mad: I was so angry with myself, and truly, they didn't even taste good nemore! I don't even know what happened, they were gone before I could even stop myself! Anyways over night I put on 1.6kg which I as spewing about (I HAD BEEN 0.2kg from 85kg!).

The following day I was down to 87.3kg (oh my the cravings!) and today I'm down to 86.3kg which I'm happy about (except that I was terribly constipated yesterday which never happens to me, so I sipped a diet tea, and OMG never again, the stomach cramps were HELL, not to mention about 8 trips to the loo!

So it is 2 days before my 4 week weigh-in...I should have been down 11-12kg, instead I'll probly only be down 10kgs...But I'm still happy with that!
I'm going to be very very good, need to get rid of my cravings, and I can't wait til my hunger disappears again!

But on a good note, I luv my new jeans, and both my room mate and my Personal trainer (who hasn't seen me since I started cohen's, and who I had been working with for 3 months five times a week prior to cohen's, and never dropped a kilo!) are both raving about how much smaller I am, so I'm very happy bout that! :jump:

I'm now back on track and very determined to continue!!!

Anyways that's enough for now...gotta luv the weekend!!!

Skinny hugs,
Crystal

1.1kg to my second goal of under 85kg!!!

Hey everybody, just wanted to report, it's my 7th day and I'm half a kilo away from my first goal (under 90kg)! :jump: Also my hunger feels more under control today (Gotta watch those apples!)

Hi Cate,yes that is a great motto to remember, so I've written it on paper and stuck it on my fridge :D I luv motivating quotes, here are a few more:

"Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can."

"The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!"

"The rest of the world lives to eat, while I eat to live."




Hey Crystal! Congrats on reaching your first goal in such a short amount of time.

I love your quotes... I was once told a quote that sticks in my head to remember to drink enough water..I think we can assume what it's referring to ;)

"Don't go for gold!"

Keep up the great effort!!

1.1kg to my second goal of under 85kg!!!

Crystal! You are on a roll girl!!!! This is amazing. Well done. As for the slight deviations, you haven't fallen off the bandwagon, so keep going..... you can do it.

Do you work full time? Do you go to the gym? I've put my gym membership on hold to get started on my eating plan.. I still play tennis once a week in comp - its so much effort carrying this extra weight around the court I tell you....

I'm taking a leaf out of Netski's book, she says to choose 2 dinners and 2 lunches and eat them everyday for as long as poss.. I think this is a good idea as having to think of and prepare new foods daily gets difficult in it's own way...

can i ask with the mince do you guys get it minced fresh from a butcher? I would really like some usually shop in the evenings and its only supermarket stuff available (which i was advised against?